Harry Potter and the Silver King
by CrazyFangirl1776
Summary: Harry is just a normal muggle-born wizard trying to find his worth in the kingdom of Gryffindor. When he gets offered the opportunity of a lifetime, he doesn't know what will happen. A crossover between Harry Potter and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Disclaimer (I forgot to add this to the story): I own neither Harry Potter nor Red Queen. All author's rights are reserved.
1. Ten Crowns a Week

Harry had never understood how the Privets worked. The small, plain houses were all lined up like books on a shelf, each one exactly the same as the last save for a small ornament, perhaps a succulent in the window or a pinwheel in the yard.

The symbols on the flags that hung from the fronts of houses let a passerby know who in the family had fought, and in most cases died, in the ongoing war between Gryffindor, the kingdom Harry and his family lived in, and Slytherin, a rival kingdom.

The people of Privets were mostly Muggles and had no magic, much unlike the Pureblood wizards in the palace and surrounding city. There were a few Muggle-born wizards, such as Harry himself and his childhood friend Hermione, but they were treated equally to Muggles and didn't get luxuries such as wands.

Yet even while being treated like servants, the people of Privets had some dignity, a dignity that Harry could never pull off. Even as he sat quietly reading in his loft, occasionally pushing up his round glasses, he could hear his aunt Petunia talking to his uncle Vernon about "preserving the family name" and "getting that boy into a decent job."

But I don't want a decent job, he thought to himself. Hermione wanted a decent job, and now I hardly ever get to see her. She's too busy with the king to come home. He had known Hermione all seventeen years of his life, and now she was off serving arrogant Purebloods too lazy to fill their own glasses.

"Boy!" Uncle Vernon thundered from downstairs. "Get down here now!"

"Coming!" Sighing quietly, Harry put down his book and climbed down the ladder to the ground floor.

Right away his uncle grabbed his arm, steering him towards the foyer. "There's some important people here to see you," he hissed to Harry. "Go see what they want. _And don't embarrass me._ You hear?"

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry replied, while in his head he thought _what else is new?_

Just as he was about to twist the doorknob, Aunt Petunia came up behind him. "Act civilized," she whispered in his ear, while at the same time trying to smooth down his jet black hair, which permanently stuck straight up at the back and was impossible to tame. Then she hurried away.

When Harry opened the door, the first thing he saw was two figures, one of them so tall Harry doubted he could fit in the doorway. The other was a girl Harry didn't recognize at first, but when he looked at her more closely, he realized who it was and through his arms around her. "Hermione!"

The girl hugged him back, burying her bushy brown head in his shoulder. "Harry! I've missed you so much!" The two broke apart, beaming.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"Nice to see you too," she said, laughing. "Official business. King's orders." She said this part loudly, as if to make Harry seem more important. Then, in a much quieter tone, "I got you a job."

Harry froze. "A job? Working with you?" It sounded like a dream come true.

Hermione nodded. "They pay ten crowns a week."

For a moment Harry didn't believe her. Ten crowns a week?" With that much money, he could leave his aunt and uncle and get his own house. He'd never have to go to bed hungry ever again. He might even have enough money to get a wand, like the Purebloods.

As if reading his mind, Hermione reached into the back pocket of the red uniform she wore. "I got one. Vine wood and dragon heartstring, ten and three-quarter inches. A bit flourish-y." She paused, then added, "Well, that's what Mr. Ollivander said."

She handed the wand to Harry, who rolled it between his fingers. "Wow, Hermione!"

"And I've already learned some spells, look," she said, taking back the wand. She then pointed it between Harry's eyes with the command "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The world suddenly became very blurry, and Harry rubbed at his eyes until he realized his glasses were gone. "Hermione…"

"Look up."

Harry followed her gaze, and sure enough, he could make out a blurry brown shape rising and falling above him. "That's amazing, Hermione! You really are... "

"...the brightest witch of them all, I know," Hermione finished. It was an old joke between them, and they laughed again.

"What's going on in here?!" Uncle Vernon came storming in. His eyes landed on Hermione in her uniform. "Who the ruddy…"

"Hermione Granger, sir," Hermione said quickly. "I'm a friend of Harry's."

"What are you doing here?" Uncle Vernon asked, rather rudely.

"I've gotten Harry a job," Hermione responded. "He serves the king now."


	2. City of Diamond

2

City of Diamond

Harry's palms were sweating as he followed Hermione out the door, not bothering to say goodbye to his aunt and uncle. They wouldn't have acknowledged him anyway.

"By the way, "Hermione said, "this is Hagrid." She inclined her head towards the vast figure behind her. "He's the royal gatekeeper. "

The man extended a meaty hand large enough to completely cover Harry's head. "Nice ter see yeh, Harry."

Harry stared up at him, confused. "Have we met before? "

Hagrid chucked, his beady black eyes twinkling behind a bushy, tangled beard. "In a manner o' speaking. 'Course, last time I saw yeh, you were only a baby. "He paused. "Knew yer parents too, o' course. Terribly nice people. Didn't deserve their fate. "

Harry squirmed. He didn't like to talk about his orphan status, mainly because he didn't know why he ended up an orphan. All he knew was what he had heard from his aunt and uncle, who told him they died in battle, like everyone else.

"Yeah, it's hard not having parents," Harry said quietly. "I barely remember them before they went off to fight."

Hagrid looked at him, puzzled. "Fight? What for?"

"Well, they died in the war, didn't they? "

"WHAT?!" Hagrid roared. "Lily an' James Potter, dying in war? They didn't die in war! "

Harry stopped walking. "They didn't die in war? Then how _did_ they die?"

"Why, they were killed, o' course!" Hagrid said. "How do you not know this, Harry? That's why yer famous!"

Harry stared at Hagrid in shock. Killed… Harry suddenly felt a burning hatred towards the king.

"It was a shame," Hagrid said quietly, shaking his head as he walked. Harry quickly jogged to fall in step next to him. "The late king, Tom Riddle the 2nd, ordered his army ter kill off Muggle borns. Wanted a clean kingdom. Yer parents were among those killed, 'specially yer Muggle born mother. Tom Riddle came to yer house ter finish them off personally.

"After they were out of the way, he went ter you, Harry, "Hagrid explained. "And that's why yer famous. He tried ter kill you, Harry, and failed. He'd killed powerful families- the Peverells, the Bones- and you was barely one years old, an' he couldn't kill you."

"He… he couldn't kill me?" Harry asked, stunned. "Why?"

"No one knows," Hagrid said mysteriously. "But whatever happened that night killed the king. His son, the prince Tom Riddle the 3rd, and his wife Queen Bellatrix took the throne. "

"They have two daughters, Nymphadora and Ginevra," Hermione broke in, speaking for the first time in a while. "That's what the Triwizard Tournament is for. The winner will be Nymphadora's husband. "

"And the Triwizard Tournament is…"

"A competition"Hagrid explained. "All the high ranking families- the Malfoys, the Blacks, the Greengrasses- put forth sons ter compete for the position o' king. It's an elimination process- oh, hello Tom."

They had arrived at a ginormous wall made of a sparkling, glasslike material. A pair of guards stood next to the door on either side. One of them was old and scrawny, and smiled a toothless grin at Hagrid. "Back again, Hagrid?"

"Just comin' back through today, Tom," Hagrid replied, showing the guard something Harry couldn't see. Whatever it was, it did the trick.

Tom nodded and beckoned Harry and Hermione forward. "Wrists," he said simply. Hermione held out her right arm. Harry copied her. Tom pulled something out of his pocket and slid it over Hermione's skinny wrist. It was a muddy brown bracelet. He gave Harry a bracelet identical to Hermione's, and Harry felt it shrinking to accommodate his wrist, loose enough to fit comfortably, but tight enough to stay firmly in the same spot. Then Tom tapped a certain spot on the wall and a section of it slid away to reveal an opening. He waved them inside wordlessly.

Harry stared up through the doorframe in awe, rocking back and forth on his heels to see the light bounce off the sparkling wall.

"Diamond," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "The Purebloods found a way to mix it with glass and limestone. Not even the most powerful spell could get through that."

At once, Harry's awe disappeared. "They built it to keep us out, didn't they?"

Hermione nodded grimly. "They use these to keep track of us in the city." She held up her wrist for clarification. "They're brown because we're muggle-born. Get it? Mudblood?"

She forced a laugh and strolled on through the entrance. Harry didn't see what was so funny- Mudblood was an offensive name for muggle-born wizards- but he followed her through anyways.

Immediately all his worries faded away. The city was magnificent, full of glitter and excitement. Everywhere Purebloods shopped, rested, and drank with leisure, moving with a catlike grace. On his left Harry saw a middle-aged man in robes of powder blue, using his wand to draw patterns in the air with streaks of flame while his child jumped at them, shrieking with delight. At a nearby bar, customers laughed loudly together while the bartender scurried around, refilling goblets with a liquid that smoked and splashed before settling down.

By far the most fascinating sight was a woman who was sitting on a nearby bench. When she was sure no one was looking, she would disappear in a puff of smoke, only to return a few seconds later with a small trinket, such as a gold watch, which she would then tuck into her pocket. Harry was so enthralled with this process that he watched the woman for so long Hermione had to grab his arm and drag him along. "Don't stare," she hissed under her breath. "It's rude."

When they reached the palace, Hermione squeezed his arm. "Good luck," she said, smiling. Hagrid pulled Harry towards him and enveloped Harry in a bone-crushing hug. Finally, when Harry felt he was going to suffocate, Hagrid released him. He then plunged a hand deep into the pockets of his giant overcoat and pulled out a bundle of brown fabric. "Uniform," he said.

Harry gratefully took it and shook out the bundle, and a wrinkled brown shirt to the ground. He unraveled the pants, also brown, and headed into the shade of a nearby tree to change.

When he stepped out, Hermione looked him up and down, searching for imperfections. When she could find none, she nodded firmly and embraced him. "You'll be fine," she assured him.

Harry swallowed hard. "Of course I will" was all he could manage.

Hermione abruptly stepped back. "I almost forgot!" She pulled something small out of her pocket and handed it to Harry. "Your official badge."

Harry studied it. The badge was made of silver and green thread. The king's coat of arms- a snake in the jaws of lion, with the words _Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus_ stretched across the bottom- was stitched in black. Harry pinned the badge to the front of his collared shirt, feeling more confident. This was his job. He'd get paid for it. He could buy his own wand. What was there to be nervous about?

Harry took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and turned to Hagrid. "Thanks," he said, "for everything."

Hagrid blushed beneath his bushy brown beard. "It was a pleasure, Harry."

"Let's go," Hermione prompted, hugging Hagrid one last time, then grabbing Harry's hand. They marched into the palace without looking back.


End file.
